1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bread slicing apparatus for slicing the bread. In particular, the present invention relates to a bread slicing apparatus that can facilitate attachment and detachment of endless blades.
2. Description of the Related Art
Loaf bread slicing apparatuses for slicing the loaf bread have been conventionally used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,254 discloses a loaf bread slicer in which both ends in the axial direction of a rotation shaft to which a drum is mounted are supported by a double end-supported beam frame. The conventional loaf bread slicer comprises a pair of drums, a frame supporting the rotation shafts of both drums so that both drums can rotate in parallel to each other, and a plurality of endless blades that are wound diagonally across both drums disposed in parallel.
This frame is of a double end-supported beam type that comprises a pair of side frames extending with being slightly inclined with respect to the vertical direction and a beam frame horizontally extending and connected to the pair of side frames so that the side frames are arranged in parallel. Between the side frames, there is a pivot shaft extending in parallel to the beam frame. Both ends of the shaft of the drum are pivotably supported with respect to the pivot shaft via arm members, respectively. By swinging the arm members about the pivot shaft, the distance between the drums is changed, so that the tension applied to the endless blades is changed.
In the loaf bread slicer as arranged above, a plurality of endless blades are wound around both drums with being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval, and the loaf bread passing through the endless blades is sliced in the predetermined thickness.
Since the conventional loaf bread slicer has the side frames, the arm members supported by the rotation shaft, and the pivot shafts for swinging the arm members, it takes a lot of trouble in detaching and attaching the endless blades. For example, in order to replace the endless blade on the drums, it is required to remove the rotation shafts from the arm members, and take out and in the endless blade via a relatively narrow space between the arm members and the end face located in the axial direction of the drums.
As described above, in the bread slicing apparatus having the conventional frame-shaped beam frame, since the access to the rotation shaft of the drum and its peripheral portions is limited, it tends to take a lot of trouble for the maintenance and the replacement of the endless blades.